Jointly with the EU, the OECD produces the largest database on the integration outcomes of immigrants and their native-born direct descendants, covering more than 40 countries. It includes over 80 indicators covering three main areas: labour market and skills; living conditions; and civic engagement and social integration.
Economic and social integration of migrants
For immigration to play a positive role and to be accepted by the host country, it is vital that immigrants and their children are well integrated in the economy and society at large. The OECD monitors outcomes and integration policies against the specific context in each country, with the aim of identifying both policy challenges and good practices.
Key messages
Through its “Making Integration Work” series, the OECD highlights key issues and good practices in immigrant integration, across a range of policy areas and different migrant groups. The OECD also provides country-specific support and analysis, mainly through in-depth comparative assessments of national integration policies.
Discrimination against immigrants and their descendants is a key barrier to their economic and social inclusion. It also threatens social cohesion and has strong economic costs. The OECD examines the root causes and consequences, regarding both perceived discrimination and objective instances of it taking place, and promotes policies aimed at tackling the issue. It also helps countries to reap the benefits of diverse societies.
Context
Migrant qualifications
Around one-third of highly educated immigrants who are employed in OECD countries are formally overqualified for their jobs. Compared to the native born, immigrants are more likely to work in jobs for which they are formally overqualified, in part because they struggle to have their foreign credentials valued in host countries. Groups that face particularly high overqualification rates are immigrants with foreign degrees, refugees, as well as recent arrivals. Overqualification often represents a waste of human capital and can lead to lower motivation among migrant workers.
Acquiring nationality
Among foreign-born people who have resided in their host-country for more than 10 years, over half now hold the nationality of that country. The share is higher in countries where a large part of the foreign-born population belongs to national minorities who enjoy automatic or streamlined access to citizenship, as well as in OECD countries that were historically settled through immigration. Acquisition of citizenship is also usually more widespread among the foreign-born from developing countries. In most countries, immigrants from Africa and Asia are the groups with the highest number of citizens. However, immigrants from the same region as the host country are less likely to take up nationality.
